FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., May 12, 2004 (PRIMEZONE) -- Market rallies, led by technology gains, following a three-session sell off on interest rate fears. Stock markets traditionally dislike a rising rate environment because of worries that higher borrowing costs would slow economic growth and hurt corporate profits, eventually eroding stock valuations. Worries about this had pounded stocks for three sessions straight, pushing the major indexes to new lows for the year Monday.
While the concerns about rates remained in place Tuesday, some of the selling pressure eased.
Focus Stock:
Cisco Systems Inc (Nasdaq:CSCO) reported better-than-expected sales and profits for the latest quarter, a sign that the corporate pickup in technology spending is continuing.
The San Jose, Calif.-based company, the biggest maker of equipment used to connect computers and servers to the Internet, posted net income of $1.2 billion, or 17 cents a share, for its fiscal third quarter, up 21.6 percent from $987 million, or 14 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding stock-based compensation expenses and other charges, Cisco's pro forma earnings were $1.4 billion, or 19 cents a share, a penny ahead of analysts' expectations of 18 cents a share. Sales jumped 21.7 percent to $5.62 billion, coming in a shade better than the consensus estimate of $5.55 billion.
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Other stocks to watch:
StockMarketNewsAlert.com names the following stocks to its Stock Focus List: Multimedia Gaming (MGAM), Fortune Brands (NYSE:FO), Vivus Inc. (Nasdaq:VVUS), eBay Inc. (Nasdaq:EBAY), 3Com Corporation (Nasdaq:COMS).
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